Benjamin f



(No Model.)

B. P. GLEASON.

eoRPsB SUPPORTING TABLE.

Patented Sept. 7, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIBT F. GLEASON, OF BROCKPOR'I, NEWT YORK.

CORPSE-SUPPORTING TABLE.

QPICIPICATIN forming part of Letters Patent No. 348.626, dated September 7, 1886.

Application led July 5, 1884. Serial No. 136,964. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. GLEAsoN,

of Brockport, Monroe county, New York, have l invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Corpse-Supporting Tables; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the headrest,on au enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is a similar view of one of the arm-rests.

My improvement relates to cooling-boards, and in general construction is similar to that patented by me April 12, 1881, No. 239,950.

My presentinvention consists more particularly in the construction of the headrest and arm-rests, as hereinaftermore fully described.

In the drawings, A A represent the two main sections of the cooling-board, which are hinged together at a, so that they can be folded together compactly when not in use.

B B are the legs, also hinged to turn in fiatwise against the board.

C C are angular braces for supporting the legs when extended. f

D D are the upright frames at the ends for' supporting the canopy J, said frames when not in use being slid into the frame horizontally.

E is an extra section at one end of the frame, extending nearly the whole length of one of the half-sections, and being pivoted at b so as to turn up and down to any desired angle.

Gr G are two arms pivoted to the head of the swinging section, the lower ends of which are sharp edged, as shown.

d d are sunken ledges in the main section A, provided with ratchet-teethff, with which the lower ends of the pivoted arms engage to support the swinging section, as shown in Fig. 1. By moving the arms from one notch to another it will be seen that the swinging section will be adjusted higher or lower, and when not in use the swinging section can be laid down ilat on the main section, and the pivoted arms will fold down into the depressed spaces or cavities of the ledgesnthe whole beingin compact form. The object ofthe swinging section is to hold the body at the desiredV ,swinging section.

incline,\vhich can be varied by the means above described.

The headrest is constructed as follows: His a plate attached on top of the swinging section E, and near the head thereof. I I are two tubes, forming a part of the plate and extending down through the section. KK are two vertical shafts, which pass through the tubes, and are provided with ratchet-teeth gg on their inner sides. M M are two detents,pivoted at p p to the frame,aud provided at one end with handles 1' r, by which they are operated, and at the other end with points s s, which catch into the ratchet-teeth g g and hold the shafts K K elevated. Each of the detents is provided with a U -shaped spring, n, which tends to throw the detent into engagement with the ratchet. L is a concave headrest extending from shaft to shaft,and provided on its under side with lugs, which are pivoted to the tops of the shafts KK, as shown at Z Z, the headrests being thus attached to the shafts `so as to move up and down with them at opposite ends. The head-rest thus arranged can be adjusted up and down bodilythat is, in a level position-by an equal movement 0f both shafts, as indicated by the full lines in Fig. 3; or it can be adjusted in an inclined direction either way by moving one shaft up more than the other, as indicated by the dotted lines in the same figure. By the use of this head-rest, having two pivots and two supporting-standards, the head of the corpse can be raised straight up or it can be thrown from one side to the other, as is frequently necessary in adj ustingthe body, especially afterit has been moved, and in shaving, which cannot be done well in a head-rest having a single bearing.

P P are two arm-rests, also attached to the swinging section E on opposite sides and below the head-rest. These arm-rests are constructed as follows: 71 is a tube set into the edge of the i isa crank-shaped arm, which rests in the tube, and is then bent in over the section, and has on its inner end an arm-rest, k, pivoted to turn axially. On the vertical part of the arm thatv rests in the tube are a series of ratchet-teeth, Z l, that extend two-thirds (more or less) around the circumference of the arm. mis aspring or other device, that passes throughtthe tube and engages with the ratchet-teeth. By this means the shaft can be adjusted higher or lower and held Y at any position, and it can also be turned so as to carry the arm-rest in a circle. By so turning the shaft that the ratchet-teeth are free from the spring the arm-rest can be slid down. By making the arm-rest in this cranked forni it can be moved forward or back toward and from the head, or it can be inovedin and out toward and from the center of the board, and, if desired, can be reversed,so as to stand outside of the board. By this means it is adapted to the corpses of adults or children and to persons of different size, being a very convenient and effective arrangement. i

Havi ng described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In a coolingboard, the head-rest consisting ofthe two shafts movable vertically, the head-rest pivoted to the upper ends of the two shafts, and the detents for holding the two shafts at any elevation, whereby the head-rest may be adjusted in a level position or to an incline on either side, as set forth.

2. In a cooling-board, the eombination,with the swinging section, of ahead-rest inthe center of the board near the head of the same and two arm-rests, one on each side, as set forth.

3. In a cooling-board, the arm-rest madein crank form, whereby it can be adjusted forward and back and in and out, as and for the purpose specied.

4. The arm-rest consisting of the tube h, the cranked arm fi, provided with ratchet-teeth on its vertical length, which rests in the tube, the spring or other device m,for engaging with the ratchet-teeth, and the rest 7.a,pivoted to the upper end of the arm, as shown and described, and for the purpose specied.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. Y

BENJAMIN F. GLEASON.

Titnessesz P. JAMES COSTELLO, R. F. OseooD. 

